Category: Other

Amongst other things, I’ve decided that for the new year (2007), I’m going to do a daily text blog.

The blog is named “Wasted Days”. I don’t know why. I just like that name. Well… I think I DO know why, but the reasons aren’t tangible right now, so there’s nothing to say/print/type about it.

I thought of doing a daily videoblog, but that’s just ridiculous. 😀 Maybe a weekly videoblog, but text I can handle on a day-to-day basis. Meanwhile, I’ll brainstorm my video projects for 2007, including ReelSolidTV, EMS, SU, HWD, AAM and whatever else occurs to me in the near future.

The trip was a great way for me to end 2006. We met up in front of RGA in Manhattan, and took about a 5-hour chartered bus ride (thanks to endless traffic) up to Mohegan Sun. The group hustled to get food before the fights started, then it was ON! 😀

They’re going to show the fights on Fox Sports Net (FSN) sometime within the next week or so.

It’s a different experience seeing professional fighters get knocked out “in person” from watching it on television. I think it’s because on television, you’re getting whatever they show you and in person, you get to check it out with your own eyes… with nothing but air in between you and the fight. I think there’s something that you lose by watching the fight on television because they broadcast impossible views of the action. They have cameramen standing @ the ropes using zoom lenses, AND they have computer-operated cameras floating over the action. It’s impossible for you to think of what’s going on as an actual struggle between actual human beings, because the angles keep changing and you’re right on top of the action, where you couldn’t possibly be if you went to a fight. I noticed this when I looked to my right, towards the big screens that were showing what the cameras were shooting. It was necessary at times, when the action was on the mat and facing away from me, so I had no idea who was doing what. That’s when the camera angle was really useful. It was still surreal… like I was watching something else. Diverting my eyes from the screens and back to the live fighters gave me a good idea of the difference between the two experiences.

It was cool traveling with the RGA students. I don’t train, so it was interesting being around people that learn from one man in particular, and they were going to watch that man compete. I don’t know that there’s anything like it I can think of right this minute. You’re not going to see an NFL coach or NBA coach get on the field/court and get busy. Their time for that is over. Now, they just tell people what to do. Renzo Gracie has been fighting and STILL fights. There were a couple of other guys from the school that fought on the IFL card. A couple of female RGA students drove up as well. Wives and children of the students attended also. Looking around at all the green shirts, I could see a community of people brought together because of something they love to do, and someone they love to train with.

It was also interesting watching guys “gas out” in person. You can’t see it so much on television. On TV, you can see their facial expressions, or they spit out a mouthpiece, or you can tell they’re breathing really hard. There must be intangibles that you get from being in the same room with someone that’s doing a physical activity… Indicators that tell you extra things about them that you can’t pick up through watching the same thing on television. It was like you could SEE less energy “on” them. The punches got slower. The movements got slower. The hands stayed lower and lower. Guys started relaxing in clinches… This one fight, the guys literally laid around for 3 rounds (15 minutes?) and then, SOMEHOW, a decision was given out even though neither one of them did ANYTHING to the other one. It was really lame, and the crowd was booing like crazy. Those guys weren’t gassed.. they were just lethargic from the opening bell.

OTOH, MOST of the fighters were doing what they came there to do. There were some really good matchups and mostly good endings to the fights. This one guy was beating the living tar out of this other guy for like 2 1/2 rounds, then he happened to get caught ONE TIME with ONE PUNCH and got knocked out COLD. I mean, COLD. You could tell he was out before his body hit the floor. It was odd, because he had been so animated the whole time, and in one split second, it was all over. He was well on his way to a victory on the cards. All that animation just STOPPED. If it hadn’t been for gravity, he would have remained in the air, stiff… shut down. They took him out on a stretcher after stabilizing his neck as a precautionary measure, but he was waving his arms before they took him out of the arena to the ambulance. That’s always a good thing…. waving arms… not ambulances. 😀

The Renzo Gracie / Carlos Newton fight went to the cards, and the judges voted for a split decision win for Renzo (Pronounced “Henzo” because of Brazilian origin). Later, the students returned to the bus and I slept the two hours it took us to get back to Manhattan. I had a great time and it was a unique experience… going to the fights with student, admirers and fans of Renzo Gracie. I’m glad Carlos invited me. 😀

The hecklers don’t receive a “free pass”. Unfortunately, we don’t know what they said to him. Kramer may have been reacting to ‘just’ the fact that they were interrupting his show, or he might have felt personally insulted by whatever they were saying. Heckling is something of a sport in comedy clubs, and I’m sure there are people that go there SPECIFICALLY to mess with the performers, if they can. I don’t know what they said, or why, but if someone’s performing and you’re interrupting, be prepared to hear something you’re not going to like. To a degree, I feel like Kramer accomplished what he wanted with what he said, because you could tell from the heckler’s voices that they felt hurt and upset. They ‘attacked’ him, verbally, and he ‘attacked’ them back, verbally, and they left the club feeling hurt. Chalk one up for Kramer. 🙂

Unfortunately…

The way Kramer CHOSE to defend himself or attack them was by insulting them based on GENERAL characteristics, not SPECIFIC ones. He didn’t talk about the ?guys’? shirts or their haircuts or how their girlfriends looked. He insulted them by bringing up things that happened to people ONLY because their skin was a different color. So… not only did he offend the ?two? hecklers… Kramer offended everyone who knows ANYONE that had ANYTHING happen to them because they were considered to be different. At some point, every new ethnic group that arrived in NYC was considered to be the bottom of the barrel. Italians were the bottom. Irish were the bottom. Puerto Ricans were the bottom. Blacks were the bottom. Mexicans were the bottom. Things happened to people STRICTLY because they were Italian or Jewish, or even PERCEIVED to be something, based on visible, supposedly stereotypical characteristics, like a large nose, for instance. We don’t even have to get into how women were/are treated because it’s visibly clear that they’re ‘different’ from men.

To paraphrase Kramer, 🙂 “Throw them out because they’re [Black]” reminds everyone of when someone said “No Jews allowed here” or “Don’t pay her as much as you pay him for the same job” or “Kick his ass because he’s homosexual”. The “Reginald Denny” beating was as egregious as the Rodney King beating. They’re both GENERALLY offensive situations. You can’t say “ha ha ha… someone got dragged out of a car and beaten up” without offending EVERYONE that knows someone that got dragged out of a car and beaten up, OR had it done to themselves.

Kramer ALSO offended everyone that knows people are going to use this as “evidence” of “what lurks beneath” or whatever he was incoherently rambling about. 😀 There are lots of people that aren’t gloating about “the good ole’ days” of segregation and free passes for critical beatdowns and killings. There are lots of people that will take this Kramer thing and run with it as if it’s proof of “what lurks beneath” in Whites in general…. or, on a global scale, since that video is viewable all over the world, in Americans in general….

Anyway… Kramer either said what he felt or temporarily lost his mind. 😀 Do the hecklers get a free pass for that? Nope. However, it’s up to Kramer to represent himself authentically. When he felt like he wanted to upset the hecklers, he dug into his bag of tricks, and all he came out with was [basically] “skin color”. wow. original. some comedian! 😀

That’s like Mel Gibson rambling about Jews when the cops stopped him. What does someone being Jewish have to do with YOU drinking and driving? 😀 😀

Tonight, I went to see “New York Legends of Hip-Hop” at the Victory Theater in Times Square. Looooooong-time friends Marjory and Kim Holmes (pictured) were featured dancers, along with Rock Steady Crew and other representatives of Hip Hop culture, essentially from the beginning of it all. 😀

Marj, Bill C., Kim Holmes

The show was great! 😀 Reminded me of ‘back in the day’, going clubbing all night, then hitting ‘Round The Clock or Midnight Express for breakfast before or while the sun was coming up. I’m sure it was even better for people that weren’t aware of or didn’t have access to the culture. Our seats were next to a tourist named Melanie. She was from Sweden or Denmark or The Netherlands, I can’t remember which. We took pictures on her camera, which wasn’t digital, so she’s planning to snail-mail me a copy whenever she develops the film!!! hahaha She enjoyed the show a lot, too.

I made sure I had my kicks, sweats & KR3TS shirt, in case I had to ‘get loose’. 😀 I had seen Kim recently, but hadn’t seen Marj in ages, so it was great to watch them perform and hang out with them after the show. This is the last weekend of the show, and all the remaining dates are sold out… as they should be, because “New York Legends of Hip-Hop” is well worth seeing… whether you lived through the evolution of Hip Hop in NYC in the streets and in the clubs or you didn’t, but you’re a fan of the style & energy of the culture.

Each season, the creative team begins the design process with an exploratory process to define what is equally lovely, fluid, functional, creative and fresh so that each bag is created to be completely exclusive, classic and gorgeous.

So… The other day, I’m minding my business….. (Like I love to do)… and my sister calls me talking about “a small plane hit a building on the east side. I check out the TV, and there’s an apartment building with a few windows with fire coming out of them. I grabbed the camera and headed out.

I hopped on the bus, and unfortunately for me, I thought the reporter said 77th street & York. I got out on 78th & 2nd, and the fire trucks and police vehicles kept whizzing by. Turns out the crash was on 72nd street, so I had some jogging to do. I finally got down there, and the fire was pretty much contained. There’s still some smoke coming out of the apartment(s), but everything was pretty calm and the whole block was taped off. There was a helicopter floating around, which was apparently Channel 4 News.

After I got there, nothing really happened. I guess people were waiting to see IF something happened. I headed out as it started raining. The ‘funny’ thing is that when I got back home and turned on the TV…… the building was still on fire! :/ It was then that I realized that the news was running the same footage over and over and had been doing that the whole time. It’s completely possible that the fire was out before I even left my house.

Anyway… Here I go, ‘racing’ to the accident scene on public transportation!

6:50pm… May 27th… Saturday….. Reel Solid Productions kicks off and gets ready to rock. The goal is to get the information out there… Education… Entertainment. What the people WANT, and what the people NEED! 😀

The brainstorming of B L & D sets off NOW, and this blog will demonstrate how we show and prove.

Thanks to all those who BELIEVE in what we’re doing and are getting down with the program. Reel Solid Productions is an effort FOR the people… BY the people.